The Eternal Gardens
9/30/13
Being an integral part of an overall plan takes quite a
bit of planning on the one who is drawing the set in which the results are
going to play out. A great planner will
have contingency plans or another way in which the overall goal is reached if
something goes wrong after the project has been started. The topic of this article is not going to be
about the author of the two scenes but the decisions that were made in both
settings, decisions which humans were directly involved and choices had been
made. It is the choice of relationship
that is determined when we make the decision to do something.
The two main garden scenes in the Bible many of us would
know right off hand if someone would ask.
The two scenes are the Garden of Eden and the Garden of Gethsemane. These two settings tell an enormous amount of
information concerning the gift of human choice and the power and finality that
each of our choices have after we have made them. We know that humans were present in both of
these settings but what we tend to not remember is that our enemy was present
in both of these settings as well. It is
the final decisions of these instances that forego a relationship change
between man and God and it explains just how important a relationship is
between the same two parties.
I used to say that all of us know the story about the
events in the Garden of Eden but I honestly have to admit that I cannot
accurately make that statement any longer.
We as a society have intentionally blinded ourselves to what actually
took place in the beginning and have dismissed the details of the acts that
took place during that period of time.
We have also deliberately dropped the Bible on the ground beside us and we
have allowed it to become a part of our dust instead of a light unto our
feet. We have also missed a great
portion of the second important garden scene and that is what connection that
the second garden scene had with the first garden scene.
The first garden scene had humans making a choice
according to how they felt and what they believed to be right. The gift of choice had been given to them and
the Creator allowed this gift to be fulfilled, all part of the overall
plan. They did not come by this decision
alone they had help from another created being that had already experienced
this selfish decision making process and the price that it entails. They believed a beautiful lie and swept
themselves into another spiritual level with the intent to be something
greater. This decision was purely
selfish in that the people involved had established a relationship with their
Creator and also established another relationship with the creatures that
looked pleasing to their eyes. This
scene is another example of how on cannot serve two masters, the choice must be
made for one or the other.
The choice to be personally great began the process of
separation from God and the consequences were immediate as soon as God
addressed the problem. Everyone involved
had to face some consequences that included immediate, long lasting and eternal
results. With the option that man made
to go our own way brought into play the end result and it presented another
choice and that it is the eternal one. Once
again the concept of one cannot serve two masters comes into play in that a
choice must be made for our personal life even though the relationship with God
had been distanced and the relationship with trust of our liar strengthened.
Adam and Eve mad a personal choice based upon another
created being’s word and not the one who created them. With this door opened we have voluntarily
allowed our enemy to have control over everything that this world accepts as
life. Humans giving a spiritual enemy
the opportunity to rule over them and to dominate our dominion that we were
instructed to have. Now, given this
setting something else had to be done to break this cycle yet man was still in
control of their life and to inherit this life with the lies that we accepted
and the truth of a separation between us and our Creator that cannot be bridged
by ourselves.
The process of relationship had to then begin and God had
no option in allowing man to understand that He still was in control of our
lives and that only He could provide a safe and healthy life through His
ways. We have a long history of people
in the Old Testament of how they tried their best to make their own laws and do
their best to abide by limited rules and regulations, another prime example of
mankind trying to do things on their own by choosing to live by their own
selfish choices. This process only
continued the process of separation between God and man and did not close this
gap by any measure. Yet it continued the
defiled nature of man and their trust in self and the enemy that gave them this
option.
The gap became so intense that God even contemplated
totally destroying man but knew that if He did He would Himself demonstrate to
His creations to be a liar so life continued, but a new lineage had to be
forged. The pattern of selfishness in
choices can lead in only one direction and that direction is the way that the
creator of this idea of selfish choice can lead. It is still fascinating that even though
there were people that knew the history of the world and its watery destruction
still continued to make decisions that continued the gap that existed between
God and man. But it is believable
because even today we continue the same trend.
Most people in this time of human history became comfortable with this
gap and followed in the ways of selfish desires and were rewarded with very destructive
lives. It was still their choice and
everyone had to live with the consequences of their decisions.
It is evident that humans love to continue the legacy of
the Garden of Eden even though we know that there is an alternative route that
we can choose. It is so easy to go
opposite to what this garden legacy has to offer yet we embrace it with open
arms and continue the personal gap of sin that clouds our view and relationship
with our Creator.
The second example of a garden in the Bible is one that
occurred thousands of years later. The setting
was in a modern city of that time frame and everything that an empire could offer
its citizens was continually demonstrated on a regular basis. Society had blossomed further across the
globe and many more nations had been established and served as a foundation for
conquering heroes to be crowned. The
world had gone way beyond the technology that past societies had to offer and
the progress of the human mind had continued its pursuit of greatness amongst itself.
Enter another garden scene that represents another
decision that would mean everything to mankind.
Once again the created being that had so brilliantly deceived the first
creations was present to make sure that he did everything that he could to
ensure his kingdom would be advanced by the option of non death of the Son of
God. It is mentioned by Jesus during
this setting for His disciples to stay awake and to resist temptation at this
moment; with this statement it automatically places Satan and his forces in
that area trying to work their activities against what was transpiring.
The second garden setting had just as much effect on our
lives as did the first garden setting and all spiritual parties present understood
this concept. We cannot argue the fact
that Jesus was a human and He recognized the weaknesses of humans hence all of
the prodding that He gave the three disciples with Him to stay awake. At this point it looks like Satan and his
selfish kingdom had the advantage, or at least that was what he thought. At NO time did Jesus ever doubt His mission
to the world and at NO time would He ever go against what His Father deemed
necessary.
Jesus understood the implications of His death to mankind
and He also understood that there was no other way that this restoration could
possibly be bridged. Jesus also
understand the other side of the story that if He followed the same pattern of
choices that man had made that the total destruction of man would ultimately
occur. Jesus also understood that the
legacy of this garden setting had to play out according to mankind in order for
them to fully understand the implications and meaning of what His death
means. The only problem with this
setting is that we have once again lost this example’s meaning and have allowed
it to drop beside our feet and to become more dust behind us.
I had never really thought about the presence of Satan in
the Garden of Gethsemane until the movie “The Passion of the Christ” was
released. I cannot deny this fact of
mine and I know that many of us have done the same. It makes sense that he would be present since
his sole purpose is to destroy the human command from God to have dominion over
the earth. This means that the only way
that this goal of his could be achieved would be for us to be out of our
earthly settings and he included Jesus’ human figure in this goal. It is also clear that Jesus’ human nature was
on trial due to the fact that Jesus was aware of what His chosen men were not
completing.
We have focused so much on what Jesus was praying and
what the disciples were not doing, which there is nothing wrong with these
thoughts, that we have forgotten that a huge spiritual battle was taking place
in that garden for the eternal existence of all humanity. If one places this concept into our
forethoughts then we would truly understand why Jesus began to sweat
blood. The eternal legacy of mankind was
once again at stake and a decision had to be made by another human being.
Satan was doing his best to persuade Jesus to practice
what He had been preaching and that was to choose life. See it does not matter how our enemy gets
across his agenda or the plans that the world has for us as long as our
dominion abilities are silenced and destroyed.
Jesus knew the demands of obedience and of selflessness towards His
desires. The legacy of the Garden of Gethsemane
is one of hope, love and truth about what God intended for our lives to
be. The acts of Christ in this garden
were one of absolute truth about why God created us in the first place and the
epitome of how our lives should reflect towards others. Jesus’ actions began the spiritual forces that
would soon rip the veil that separated us from God and would restore direct
access to God our Creator. The participants
are present in both gardens, the leaders of both kingdoms were represented and
choices were made in both gardens. The
scenes were set and they played out as they were intended and now it is
intended for you to choose your garden.
The legacy of both gardens is still present today and neither
result can be hidden from the other. It
is still our choice which legacy we wish to pursue and to which result we wish
to imbibe. The world’s legacy is
temporary and its legacy short yet it is the quickest to obtain but the hardest
to maintain. For the Garden of Eden’s legacy
requires so much from us and gives back so little in return. The Gethsemane legacy requires a simple truth
concept and asks for an honest heart to pursue this truth and rewards eternally
not physically. The Garden of Eden
provides heartache, pain and suffering with no feeling of success yet
Gethsemane provides rest and the presence of true peace. Eden provides lush promises that are backed
up with further lies and Gethsemane provides restoration with our eternal
Creator and a wealth of unfathomable knowledge about life itself. It is clear that both eternal garden legacies
are available, which one will you follow?
DLB
No comments:
Post a Comment